Aston Villa: ‘Massive’ Tottenham advantage outlined by Don Goodman in race for Champions League
Don Goodman believes the high number of fixtures Aston Villa still potentially have to play this season is a “massive” advantage for Tottenham.
The two sides are battling it out for fourth place in the Premier League, with Villa currently three points better off having played a game more.
Whereas Tottenham were eliminated from both domestic cup competitions early and did not compete at all in Europe, Villa have gone on a deep run in the Europa Conference League.
That could see them play an additional five more games on the continent, while Tottenham’s sole focus is now on the Premier League.
Speaking to Villa News, Goodman said: “One issue they have got looking at the Spurs result is fatigue. That was Aston Villa’s 41st game of the season. By the time Spurs finish their season, they’d have played 41 games.
“So Aston Villa, if they advance in Europe and do well, they can play up to 57 games. The difference between that and 41 games is massive.
“When you’ve got a smallish squad, and the head coach doesn’t rotate drastically, you get what you saw against Spurs recently – a very tired performance that was punished by a very good Spurs team.”
Aston Villa and Tottenham neck and neck in Premier League top-four battle
One point worth mentioning is that fifth place could still yet be enough for Champions League qualification. Given there is a nine-point buffer on Manchester United in sixth, having played a game more, Villa are surely all but assured of a top-five finish.
Unai Emery will not want any favours, though, and this tussle with Spurs is likely to go right down to the wire. Indeed, if Tottenham win their game in hand by one goal, the sides will be level on points and goal difference.
The heavy home loss to Tottenham recently was a major blow for the Villans, but they managed to put that behind them with a battling 1-1 draw at West Ham last time out.
That came on the back of Tottenham losing 3-0 at Fulham, so the picture looks more positive than it did the previous week when losing momentum with the loss to Spurs.
Emery is a master of balancing competitions, as he has shown with his hugely impressive European record, and there is no reason Villa cannot finish the season strongly.
The aim remains winning the Europa Conference League and finishing fourth in the Premier League. Achieve that and this really would go down as one of the club’s all-time great seasons.
In other Aston Villa news, Fabrizio Romano has shared an update on Jhon Duran to Chelsea.
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